One of the things I love the very most about Seattle is happening in this photograph.

A long time ago, when I moved away from Seattle to New York City, I met for coffee with my childhood friend Jennifer, with whom I my grew up in Washington state. She had long since become a New Yorker.

I put my bag down in a chair for 2/8th of a second while I retrieved my coffee from the clutches of the bitter barista. Jennifer grabbed my arm faster than a New York minute (loosely defined as, when driving in NYC, the span of time between the light turning green and the car behind you honking).

She said to me, “We’re not in Seattle anymore! You cannot EVER do that again you in New York, ok? You must not ever leave your things laying about in New York – even your purse on the floor inside the stall of a public bathroom while you’re inside it. Someone can reach under the stall door, nab your purse, and leave with it. And what are you going to do about it? They will run off with your stuff, and be on the b-train before you can even get your pants up. You follow?”

I did. But today I was in Seattle. In fact I was working in my very favorite teahouse, and this is what I discovered in the sunny corner next to me: Little Louis Laptop, alone. Owner was in the bathroom, dropping drawers right at that moment while her laptop waited, unscathed, for her to wipe and wander back.

I love that in Seattle, she could go to the bathroom and leave her shiny Mac, just begging to be stolen. As is often typical, she didn’t even ask anyone if they would watch it for a moment until she returned. She didn’t need to, and I love that.